I own a preschool center in Taylorsville where we have a high percentage of low income families that are subsidized by the Office of Child Care.

Raising the minimum wage so drastically in a single step will crush our small business because the government and other entities supporting low income families won't raise reimbursement to us in like proportion to offset this drastic leap. We are mainly funded by parent fees and these fees, for the state of Utah, are among the lowest in the nation. At the same time, we have public school system and license-exempt daycare facilities that continue to expand their competition against us while they have access to many other funds that are not parent fees to offset the low rates.

In my small business preschool center, unlike most, we offer healthcare insurance benefit to our employees. We are barely able to do this. With such a large raise in minimum wage, I would be forced to eliminate this for them. Since Utah still has no plans for Medicaid expansion, they will fall to the uninsured population because $10 an hour isn't enough to pay for insurance individually without some form of subsidy. And many low-income families that are customers, already earning $10 an hour, won't see a bump in wages and will stop bringing their children to our preschool center. It is a downward spiral, not benefiting the community we serve.

I propose that if there is any bump in minimum wage, it be taken in graduated steps over at least a couple years, if not several. This will be critical in assuring a small business like our succeeds.